I wasn’t too incensed about the dead battery on my Prius, just surprised, but after a bit of research I’m getting my dander up. Turns out, according to this article in the Toyota Pressroom blog, that the Prius battery has a 10 year warranty… EXCEPT for the first three model years that have only an 8 year warranty. (Mine died at 8 years and 8 months.) In other words, the earlier adopters who put their faith in Toyota and spread the word and built the Prius brand potentially get a $3700 repair invoice while later adopters would get a free replacement for the same problem.
I predict there is a bit of trouble ahead for Toyota if more owners see their batteries go south* and discover the company isn’t going to replace them. This is a classic example (getting back to marketing which is what this blog is supposed to be about) of taking your best customers for granted and treating them worse than your marginal customers.
Speaking of marketing, there are some other not-to-do’s worth learning from the Toyota Pressroom post. They acknowledge that “battery replacement in a Prius is neither as simple nor as inexpensive as replacing the battery in a conventional car.” That’s disingenuous because the massive and complex hybrid battery has no basis for comparison to the battery in a conventional car; in fact the Prius ALSO has a “conventional” battery. And they quote a bargain $2,299 for that replacement battery without mentioning that installation and tax at your Toyota dealer are going to add another, oh, $1400.
In a day when anyone can and does have access to your press releases, glossing over the pesky details is not a good idea. What exactly is this article trying to accomplish? How could anybody who actually has a battery problem not feel pissed? And how could any news source that picks it up, then later discovers the truth, avoid feeling duped?
* Fortunately for other early Prius owners, mine may be a fairly rare occurrence. According to the Driving Sports blog only 306 Prius batteries had failed as of 6/09, out of 750,000 installed. “The life of the battery pack is generally about the same as the life of the vehicle,” said Toyota’s Jeremiah Shown. Well, that’s good to know.
Ok, now I’ll stop. No more about Toyota. I promise. Maybe.
[UPDATE for new readers: Toyota has now paid for the replacement battery. Details here.]
Yeah, it sucks when something breaks just out-of-warranty, especially something that expensive. But the car is about nine years old, after all. I had a transmission go in a seven-year-old Subaru Impreza, the warranty was only five years. Cost? About $2000 for the new transmission plus labor, not too much less than your battery replacement. That’s the cost of fancy technology, whether it’s an all-wheel-drive transmission or a hybrid system.
My 2002 Prius has 129,000 miles and the battery pack needs replacing at $3,100 not including tax. I feel cheated. Will start looking for mechanic who can do the job in Los Angeles area.
I am looking to buy a used Prius and have taken into account the “lifespan” of the battery. $3000 is about 2 years worth of gas savings compared to the 4 cylinder VW Jetta I currently own. I think you folks aren’t doing very good math if you think the reduced fuel costs still aren’t a bargain. And of course the use of 60% less gasoline – that is not worth anything either – right ?
Robert, most of the battery problems reported on this board (including mine) have related to the Generation 2 Prius (2000-2002). I would expect the batteries on later models are more reliable. FWIW, I’ve bought yet another Prius (a 2010) since I last posted on this topic.
My 2006 battery had to be replaced at about 75000 miles. It was under warranty. I am now at about 129,000 in about 5 3/4 years. What is the warranty for the replacement battery?
Rob, as I recall my replacement battery came with a 1 year warranty. Unofficially they told me it should last much longer, but on the record that was all you got.
Even later owners get screwed, my second gen had an 10 year 150,000 warranty. Less than 1500 miles out ofv warranty, the battery craps out.
Waiting to see if Toyota will ‘assist’ in replacement.
Good luck, Dave. Check back and let us know if you get satisfaction.
Well Toyota stepped up. They covered the parts cost I just need to cover labor. Time for my happy dance.
Hi Guys this is nice, I having problem with my 2005 Toyota Prius , driving around my diamond light came on , the brake light came on then on top of that the Vds I think it was came on, so when i got home i started to ck on the manual and at that time I turned of the car just to see if the light would turn off , well they didn’t in fact bunch of light came on including one on the Nav with a little red car on the left corner, took the car to the dealer and they have found two codes one is the big battery and the other a trans axle something like that , well I was told would cost me $825 with a discount just to ck the battery and the rest but if the battery is bad I would not have to pay anything my car has 134.000 miles and it sucks I just bought the car three months a go from Craigslist , well I hope in just the battery , I was told is ether 10yrs or 150,000 miles any suggestions. ps I was looking for just a regular mechanic but I was told it would have to be a dealer only.
I have a 05 Prius, with 109K miles, with 9K miles over the warranty I am left with a potential $3K repair and a car payment, I really believed in Toyota, and feel that this should not have happened, but covered I am not. Its just too close in my opinion I am just angry this is not going in my favor. Eastern corporate Toyota will not help. Due to my domicile in Va. 8yr 100k, I am hosed.